Bookmarker



R. F. BARSOTTI Jan. 30, 1951 BOOKMARKER '2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 24,1947 INVENTOR RUSSELL F. BARSOTTI ATTORNEY R. F. BARsoTTl BooxMARxER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 24, 1947 FIG. 8

ATTORNEY INVENTOR RUSSELL E BARSOTTI Patented Jan. 30, 1951 UNITEDSTATESv PATENT OFFICE 1 claim. `(c1. 11e-119) books, and places at aconvenient position upon the book backs the instrumentalities from whichthe marker strands emanate.

Generally speaking, the invention has for an object the provision ofconvenient, simple and durable bookmarkers which are economical tomanufacture and readily and securely attachable to and detachable fromboo-ks without injury of any kind to the books.

Other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following description and the accompanying drawings in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout theseveral views.

In the two sheets ofv drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view depicting a preferred embodiment of mybookmarker attached to a book, which book has a portion cut away toillustrate the preferred manner of attachment; Figs, 2 and 3 are,respectively, front and side elevational views of the bookmarkerillustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an interior view, ldrawn to an enlarged scale, of a portion ofthe structure illustrated in Figs.` 1 to 3, and wherein the view istaken substantially as indicated by a line 4--4 in Fig. 6 and theaccompanying arrows;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a portion of thestructure shown in Fig. 4 which illustrates a different operatingposition of the parts;

Fig. 6 is a side sectional view of my preferred `bookmarker wherein thesection is taken substantially on a line 6 5 of Fig. 4 and viewed in thedirection indicated by the arrows; Fig. '7 is a front elevational Viewof a portion of the structure of the bookmarker wherein the view istaken substantially in the opposite direction from that indicated forFig. 4 in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side View of a modified .-form of mybockmarkerwhich depicts its attach- .ment to abook and wherein the bookis indicated insection to 'showry the mannerl of attachment;

- thereof.

Figs. 9 and 10 are, respectively, rear elevational and side sectionalviews of the bookmarker shown in Fig. 8, with the section of Fig. 10taken substantially on agline IU-I of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary front elevational View of the bookmarker shownin Figs. 8, 9 and 10;

Fig. 12 is a side view of another modied form of my bookmarker whereinits attachment to a book is illustrated and the book is shown in sectionto illustrate the manner of attachment;

Figs. 13 and 14 are, respectively, side sectional and rear elevationalviews cf the bookmarker depicted in Fig. l2 and in which the section ofFig. 13 is taken substantially on a line I3-I3 of Fig. 14 and viewed inthe direction indicated by the arrows; and

Fig. 15 is a top plan view of the bookmarker illustrated in Figs. 12, 13and 14.

Asmaybe observed by referenee to the exemplary embodiments of myinvention which are depicted in the accompanying drawings, the variousforms of my bookmarkers are generally characterized by a clip adaptedreadily to be attached to and detached from a part of the bookbinder,together with an elongated strand or thread-like element` of flexiblematerial having one end attached to the clip and its other end free tobe placed between preselected pages of the book. Byy preference, a smallbead-like part having some weight is attached to the free end of thethread-like element to make it easy to find and to serve asa grip.

The particular form of my bookmarker which is illustrated in Figs. 1 to'7, inclusive, embodies a reel upon which the thread-like element iswound in an out-of-the-way position when not in use and from which itmay be readily withdrawn for placement in the book. A simplied form ofmy bookmarker is depicted in Figs. 8 to 11, inclusive. Although onlygenerally pertinent to the inventive concept of the latter form, it iswell adapted to use as an advertising novelty or souvenir having somedata or indicia stamped, embossed or otherwise printed upon the exposedportion The4 form of. my invention illustrated in Figs. 12 to. 15,.inclusive, is adapted to use in instances where a plurality of placesare to be marked in the book.

Referring more particularly to the structure o Vmy bookmarker which isillustrated in Figs. 1

to 7, inclusive, the structure there shown embodies the` clip 20 bywhich the marker is readily attachable to and detachable from a part ofa bookbinding without. marring or in. any way de- -facing any part, ofthe book. As indicated. in Fig. 'I preferl to attach my lbookmarker tothetop of the book-back cover 22 of a book 23, because in that positionit is out of the way and provides no interference with the use of thebook, although it is readily accessible for use when desired. It Will berecalled, in this regard, that practically al1 -bound volumes have thebook-back cover, such as that indicated at 22, free from the boundedges, such as 24, of the book pages 25 so as to provide what is hereintermed a book-back pocket 26.

In my preferred construction of the clip 20, it is made of an elongatedstrip of relatively thin resilient material, such as either metal or athermoplastic material return bent upon itself to provide an elongatedfingerY 2l and a tab 28 disposed in face-to-face relationship and joinedat adjacent ends by an integral connecting portion 29. For ordinaryadaptations, the nger 21 is considerably longer than the tab 28.

When attached to a book, as shown in Fig. l,

the :linger 2l extends into the book-back pocket 25 so that thebook-back cover 22 is gripped between that iinger and the tab 28. Inorder to improve the gripping action of the clip and so as to avoid itspermanent deformation in use, the tab and iinger are spaced apart attheir joined ends by the connecting portionl 29. Furthermore, the taband nger are preferably so angularly disposed relative to one anotherthat their adjacent surfaces merge toward or approaoh one another as thedistance from the connecting portion increases.

A thread-like element 33 of ilexble material has one end anchored to thehereinafter mentioned reel and its other end free to be placed betweenpreselected pages of a book, as shown in Fig. 1. Although not definitelyessential, I prefer to secure a bead-like element, such as 32, to thefree end of the thread-like element to serve as a grip. The thread-likeelement 35, of course, is desirably of sufcient length to extendcompietely through any part of the book between the pages thereof fromthe end of the book to which the clip is attached and beyond the otherend, so that the bead-like element 32 is exposed below the lower edgesof the pages as shown in Fig. l.

In the form of my invention disclosed in Figs. 1 to 7, inclusive, theone end of the thread-like element 39 is anchored to a reel 33, whichreel serves to provide a ready storage space for the thread-like elementSi) when it is not in use and to hold that element in a positionavailable for use when desired. By preference, the reel has a housingcomposed of a body portion 34 and a cap 35 which may, for example, bereadily molded of a thermoplastic material to define an enclosure for aspool 35 which may also be molded of a plastic material. In the presentembodiment, the spool 36 has a central bore 37 providing a bearing forrotatably supporting the spool upon a stud 38, which stud is integrallyformed on the interior of the cap 35. In addition to an external annularthread-retaining groove 39, the spool 3S is also provided with a recess4!! in one face thereof and substantially concentric with the bore 3?.The recess 4i! provides a mounting space for a spiral spring 42, one endof which spring is anchored in a slot 43 in the stud 33 and the otherend of which is secured in an appropriate slot 44 in the side wall ofthe spool and opening into the recess 40.

It may readily be understood that when wound up, the spring 42 biasesthe spool 3B for rotational movement in one direction. As viewed in Fig.4, the spring 42 is disposed so that when wound up about the stud 38, itbiases the spool for rotation in a clockwise direction. Thus it isintended that the thread-like element 30 shall be wound in such adirection upon the spool that when it is withdrawn, it will wind andtension the spring 42, so that when the spool is turned by the biasingforce of the spring, it will rewind the thread-like element in thegroove 39 of the spool.

In order to effect stoppage of the spool 3B when a convenient length ofthread has been withdrawn and to prevent unintentional rewinding of thethread-like bookmarking element, I have provided a pawl 45 carried forlimited rotational movement within a recess 45 in the side of the cap 35by a pin 47; one end of said pawl being biased toward engagement withany one of a series of notches i8 in the periphery of the spool 35 by aspring 49. The other end'of the pawl i5 is engaged by a manuallyoperable push button 59 extending through the side wall of the cap andexposed for the manual control of the pawl. When the pawl is movedagainst the biasing force of the spring 49 by actuation of the pushbutton 5i! to a position such as that indicated in Fig. 5, the spool isreleased for winding the thread-like element thereon. When in theposition shown in Hg.. 4, the spool is locked to retain the thread-likeelement in an extended position.

At the top, the body portion 34 of the housing and the cap 35 havecoextensive protrudingportions 52 and 53, respectively, which extendabove the clip and provide a guide for the thread-like element. The caphas in its inner surfacea channel 54 extending' outwardly from the'spooland overlying the end of a bore 55 through which the thread-like elementpasses through the housing. Y'

In my preferred construction, integrally formed lugs 56 and 5l areformed on the tab 28 and extend through slots 5S and 59, respectively,in the body portion of the housing and have their inner ends bent over,as shown in Fig. 6, to secure the reel in-place on the tab of the clip.In this position it is carried adjacent the outer surface of thebook-back cover when the bookmarker is mounted on a book with the iingerextending into the book-back pocket, as shown in Fig. 1. In the assemblyof the reel, the spool and its manually operable catch mechanism, aswell as the spring 42, are assembled in their operating positions on thecap 35 and then placed in position with respect to the body portion 34of the housing. The housing parts are then secured together by suitablefastening means such as a screw 60.

In the modified form of my bookmarker which is disclosed in Figs. 8 to1l, inclusive, the structure of the clip 62 is quite similar to that ofthe clip 2U shown in Figs. 1 to '7, inclusive, and described withreference to those figures. Also, the structure of the book shown inFig. 8 may be considered the same as that shown in Fig. l with similarreference characters referring to like parts. Like the clip 2li thevclip 52 has an elo'ngated flnger 53 joined at one end to a tab 64through an integral connecting portion 65. Also, like the clip 29, theclip 52 is resilient and preferably has the adjacent surfaces of the taband finger so disposed that they approach 'each other at a distance fromthe connecting portion, so that the clip is adapted firmly to grip thebook-back cover 22 of a book when placed there'- 5 on as shown in Fig.8, with the finger extending into the book-back pocket 25.

As shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 11, one end of the flexible thread-likeelement 3S is anchored to the tab 64. As a convenient and inexpensivemanner of anchoring the threadlike element, it extends through a smallopening 65 in the tab and has its end knotted as indicated at 6l. Bypreference, and in order to keep the thread-like element in a convenientposition for use, it extends over the top of the clip and is retained bya loop 68 which, in the present instance, is substantially horeshoeshaped and is formed integrally with the clip. That is, the material forforming the loop ES is cut from the material of the connecting portionand finger of the clip and is formed to extend upwardly in angularlydisposed relationship from the connecting portion and away from the tab.Thus, with the thread-like element extended through the loop 98, it isretained in a visible and readily accessible position relative to thebook when not in use. The other end of the threadlike element desirablyhas the bead-like element (i2 secured thereto for use as a grip.

It may be readily appreciated that the clip and thread-like elementconnected and mounted in the manner disclosed in Figs. 8 to 11,inclusive, may be used for marking a preselected page in a book in muchthe same manner as the bookmarker shown in Figs. 1 to 7, inclusive,although the thread-like element will merely hang outside of the bookwhen it is not in use, or it may be left between any of the pages whilenot in use and placed between preselected pages when it is desired tomark a particular place in the book.

The modified form of my bookmarker which is disclosed in Figs. 12 to 15,inclusive, is adapted to use for marking a plurality of preselectedpositions in a book. The clip 99, in this form also, has an elongatedfinger 19 joined at one end by an integral connecting portion 'l2 to atab 'i3 with the dispositions and conformations of the nger and tabsubstantially similar to those of the previously described forms so thatthe clip is adapted to mounting on the bookback cover 22 of a book withthe finger extending into the book-back pocket and the tab outside ofthe book-back cover, as shown in Fig. 12. In this form, however, the tabhas integral side anges M and l5 thereon which project outwardly fromthe tab and away from the finger 19. Each of the flanges desirably hasan end portion 'l5 and Il, respectively, projecting upwardly above theconnecting portion 'l2 which joins the finger to the tab. By preference,the anges 'fil and 'i5 also have integral and annularly disposed endportions 18 and 19, respectively which extend toward one another tosubstantially complete a rectangular box-like structure.

A pin Si) extends through and between the upwardly extending endportions 16 and T! and is secured in place by means such as the rivetingof its opposite ends. Intermediate its ends and between the upwardlyextending end portions I6 and 1'! of the flanges, the pin retainsthereon, in side-by-side relationship, a plurality of rings B2, to eachof which a thread-like marking element, such as 3M, 39h, 30o and 36d maybe anchored, as shown in Figs. 13, 14 and 15. Each of the threadelikeelements 39a, 39h, 39e and 39d may be used to mark a differentpreselected place in the bool: upon which the clip is mounted.

From the foregoing description and reference to the drawings, it may bereadily understood that I have provided bookmarkers in a pluralityv ofrelated forms which may be readily and inexpensively manufactured andwhich effectively serve their purpose of marking one or more preselectedplaces in a book without causing any damage to the book. Furthermore,the disclosed bookmarkers are suited to attachment to the book in areadily available position for use so that they can be found whenwanted. The placement and structure of the bookmarker are also such thatthey do not interfere with the placement of the book when it is not inuse; as, for example, when the book is laid on either of its covers orstood on its lower edge, as when placed on a shelf with other books.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, manymodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details ofconstruction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes withinthe scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

A. bookmarker comprising a wafer-like spool housing, a spool mounted forrotation in said housing, a spring wound up by turning the spool in onedirection normally tending to rotate it in the other direction. adepressable detent-release button projecting from an edge wall portionof the housing, an aperture formed in a face wall of the housing andlocated closely adjacent to an edge portion of the housing, a detentinfluenced by the aforementioned button for retaining the spool inpre-selected positions against the force of said spring, a strand offlexible material having one end secured to the spool so as to be woundthereon when the spool is turned by said spring, the other end of saidstrand being free and manually pullable through the said apertureagainst the force of said spring for placement between selected pages ofa book, and a clip having one end thereof secured to the exterior of theface wall of the housing in which the aforesaid aperture is formed andextending away from said face wall at a point adjacent said aperture andthen extending across and substantially beyond said housing face wall inwhat is the downward direction when said face wall is verticallydisposed with said aperture in its upper portion; whereby said housingmay lie for the most part directly behind, and with its aforesaid facewall directly in opposition to, a book back when the free end of saidclip is inserted as far as it will go into the pocketof the book back.

RUSSELL F. BARSOTTI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 761,555 Tack May 31, 19041,027,634 Williamson May 28, 1912 1,945,842 Witchger Feb. 6, 1934FOREIGN PATENTS Number I Country Date 6,084 Great Britain Jan. 23, 1902of 1901 226,439 Great Britain Dec. 29, 1924 247,890 Great Britain Feb.25, 1926 536,158 France Feb. '7, 1922

